Ken Smith, semi-retired American expat, living in Mexico for seven years after five years in France, a year in Denmark and another year bouncing around Europe — Italy, Switzerland, Germany, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, Croatia and Romania. Here, for travelers, expats and potential expats, you will find news, experiences and advice.

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Just for fun, here is a photo of me with Alex Jones, a popular radio talk show host. I attended a conference in San Antonio, Texas, and Jones was the keynote speaker.

He and I chatted briefly about Mexico, about which Jones has made many comments and observations that Mexico is a failed and dangerous state. I told Jones that I have lived in Mexico for seven years and I believe that he is correct in some of his criticisms of Mexico, but certainly not all. I told him that foreigners, such as myself, are in no more danger than we would be in Los Angeles, Detroit or Chicago. I’m not sure my comment registered with him. But, it was fun to meet Jones. He is a dynamic public speaker — although he occasionally sounded like a fire and brimstone Baptist preacher.

Primate skeletons at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. (Credit: Owen Franken for The New York Times)

My son Justin has a wonderful essay (yes, I’m biased) this week in the New York Times online. It is about Jardin des Plantes in the Fifth Arrondissement on the Left Bank of the Seine, Paris, and particularly the National Museum of Natural History, including the Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy. When visiting Justin four months ago I went to this museum twice, the first time with my daughter and her family, visiting from Texas, and the second time with a friend.

The Skeleton Garden of Paris

By Justin E. H. Smith

I am at the Jardin des Plantes, in the Fifth Arrondissement on the Left Bank of the Seine. Here we find one of the world’s oldest zoos, still officially called a “menagerie,” various greenhouses and rows of brilliant dahlias book-ended by statues of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. We also find the various galleries composing the National Museum of Natural History. These include, not least, the Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy, a two-floor exhibition hall built in preparation for the 1900 World Fair, where the skeletons and preserved tissues of thousands of animal species are on display: the massive jaws of sperm whales, cross-sections of elephant molars like great petrified mille-feuilles, countless miniature bat skulls under tiny glass domes.

It was a gross mistake some decades ago to de-regulate the airlines. Travel by air used to be almost enjoyable. But no longer — and we can’t heap all the blame on the TSA security theatre. The airlines have learned how much they can get away with when there are no federal regulators to say: “That’s too much gouging of the public. A little bit is OK, but not that much.”

Here’s an example. I’m planning a trip from Guadalajara to Houston the first week of June. The least expensive fare is on United for US$656 round-trip. But, if I fly to San Antonio on United, a three-hour drive to Houston, the fare is one-third as much, or US$227.

Here’s the kicker: The San Antonio flight on United includes a stop and change of planes in Houston. So, why not just get off the plane in Houston and forget about the connecting flight to San Antonio? Well, that’s against the airline’s rules and not only would my return ticket be cancelled but there is the possibility that my credit card would be charged for whatever the exorbitant one-way fare would have been.

So, I will be booking my flight from Guadalajara to San Antonio on AeroMexico for US$277 — non-stop and the service is better and the planes are cleaner. I was going to rent a car in Houston anyhow, so I will just drive a bit farther and save more than $400. Stuff it, United.

A decade ago, Antonin Scolia, justice of the United States Supreme Court, apparently violated the airline rules by buying round-trip tickets with no intention of using the return portion. Scalia had been duck hunting with Vice President Dick Cheney in Louisiana. Scalia had arrived on Cheney’s vice-presidential jet, but Cheney left early, so Scolia bought a ticket back to Washington.

Scalia clearly said, evidently without knowing the law or the airline regulations, that he booked a round-trip ticket because it was cheaper than a one-way fare, even though he had no intention of using the return portion.

Grave of Mexican artist Julio Ruelas in Montparnasse cemetery in Paris, France. This photo was taken by Dra. María Esther Pérez Salas, professor of the history of art at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Julio Ruelas, Mexican artist (1870-1907)

There have been three prominent Mexicans buried at the prestigious Montparnasse cemetery in Paris, France. Two are quite famous: Porfiriio Diaz who died in 1900 and Carlos Fuentes who died two years ago. The third man died in 1907 — Julio Ruelas, a mostly forgotten artist.

I’m not certain that the remains of Ruelas are still at Montparnasse. I believe the grave of Julio Ruelas should be supported and maintained by the Mexican government and the Mexican people — and anybody else who wants to support the memory of an artist who died a century ago. Even though this post is only a draft, I have decided to post what I have so that possibly a reader can provide additional details. I will update and edit this post as I gather more information. Send me an email: ken@kvsmith.com.

During my current visit to Paris, I tried twice to find the grave of Ruelas. The guard at the cemetery entrance gave me a map of the hundreds of graves and he marked the location of the Ruelas grave, but I could not find it. I asked a nearby grounds keeper for assistance and he told me that I was in the right area, but he did not know about Ruelas.

I went back to the guard at the cemetery entrance and asked him to confirm that Ruelas was still at Montparnasse. He looked at a registry and said Ruelas is at the spot marked on the map for tourists. I asked and he said the map and records are current. However, I told the guard that Carlos Fuentes died two years ago and he is not marked on the tourist map — nor has his headstone been engraved with a date.

Ruelas was born in Fresnillo , Zacatecas , in 1870 and died of tuberculosis in Trouville, in the French Normandy in 1907. A friend and benefactor, Jesus Eugenio Luján, paid for the burial at Montparnasse Cemetery. However, such payments for burial are for a limited time. Searching the web, I found some references in the past decade that the grave marker and the remains of Ruelas were to be moved, possibly back to Zacatecas. I cannot find any confirmation of this.

Translation: This grave is under administrative review. Please speak to the bureau of conservation.

As you can see in the photo above, the grave marker is rather distinctive and should have been easy to find. In the area of where the grave is marked on the map, there was a sign saying that the grave is being considered for removal, as you can see in the photo to the right.

There was an article in Spanish posted on a French website in 2006 about the possibility of the Ruelas grave marker and and his remains being moved or destroyed. Click here. A photograph of the grave had this caption:

The remains of the Mexican painter and engraver Julio Ruelas — member of the symbolist trend that died and was buried in Paris in 1907 — are likely to be brought to the mass grave. Even the monument that stands over his grave can be destroyed. The Association of Friends of Ruelas tries to stop, but faces grave speculation in the legendary Montparnasse Cemetery, the opposition of those responsible for the cemetery in Paris and the indifference of the Mexican authorities.

According to the Mexican newspaper Portal Zacatecas in 2009, Governor Amalia Garcia, accompanied by the Ambassador of Mexico in France, Carlos de Icaza, carried a wreath to the tomb of the great artist Julio Ruelas and witnessed the very polished restoration of the tomb.

In 2007, Zacatecas State Governor Amalia Garcia, accompanied by the ambassador of Mexico in France, Carlos de Icaza, carried a wreath to the tomb of Julio Ruelas.

In addition to Porfirio Diaz, Carlos Fuentes and (hopefully) Julio Ruelas, Montparnasse Cemetery has the graves of many of France’s intellectual and artistic elite as well as publishers and others who promoted the works of authors and artists, including:

I’m visiting my brother in the far north of Denmark — as far north as you could walk in Western Europe before you would need to find a boat. On this map, I am now at the orange pin-drop with the letter A. This is the north end of Denmark’s Jutland Peninsula. From where I’m typing this, it is about 100 miles (150km) south of Norway and the same distance from the northwest coast of Sweden.

It’s cold and I’m reminded of something I once read. North Jutland has nine months of bad weather, followed by winter.

I’m returning to Paris this Wednesday and then, maybe, another side trip to southern France — or wherever I can find a bargain air fare. Returning to Mexico early March.

A good place to wait for the cold rain to stop. I was on a long walk in Paris, near Notre Dame cathedral, when the rain resumed. I could wait either in the church or in Shakespeare & Co., the famous used book store.

Click here for the book store’s website — it is as disorganized and as much fun as the store itself.

I am certainly no expert on Mexican politics and literature, but my guess is that Carlos Fuentes and Porfirio Díaz would have been at opposite ends of a debate if they had lived at the same time. But, here they are, buried a few meters apart at Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris, France.

(See my post here yesterday on Fuentes. And, yes, I like to visit the graves of famous people — maybe some of the creative spirits are still lingering nearby.)

Díaz (1830-1915) is a controversial figure in Mexican history and is usually considered by historians to have been a dictator. He was president of Mexico for seven terms, totaling nearly three decades — one month in 1876, then from 1877 to 1880, and finally from 1884 until he was overthrown in 1911. He spent his last years in exile in France, where he died and was buried.

The grave marker for Díaz is among the tallest, if not the tallest, at Montparnasse, even though there are many famous French sharing the grounds.

Porfirio Díaz is generally attributed with the saying, “¡Pobre México! ¡Tan lejos de Dios y tan cerca de los Estados Unidos!” (Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States!)

And, here’s a post from my visit to Montparnasse a decade ago with photos of the graves of Serge Gainsbourg, Jean Seberg, Emile Durkheim, and Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. Go to:http://kvsmith.com/?p=43

I did not know until my current visit to France that Carlos Fuentes is buried at Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris. Fuentes died in Mexico City two years ago. On the day Fuentes died, I read a number of news articles and web postings and, like many others, I just assumed that he would be buried in Mexico.

Searching the web today, I learned that Fuentes told a reporter for The Washington Post in 1995 that he and his wife, Silvia Lemus, had been talking about where they wanted to be buried. Back then, Fuentes said he favored Montparnasse cemetery in Paris. “I think,” he said, “that would be a great place to spend eternity.” Fuentes served as Mexico’s ambassador to France from 1975 to 1977.

The two children of Carlos and Silvia both died as young adults and both are buried at Montparnasse. The year of death for Carlos has not yet been inscribed on the tombstone, although the dates for the two children are there. Silvia is alive and well in Mexico.

I should point out that somebody in Paris has recently visited the Fuentes grave. The flowers are wilted by the cold weather, but definitely were placed there within the previous day or two.

And, here’s a post from my visit to Montparnasse a decade ago with photos of the graves of Serge Gainsbourg, Jean Seberg, Emile Durkheim, and Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. Go to:http://kvsmith.com/?p=43

I’m visiting my son in Paris. While buying time for my pre-pay French mobile phone, I said to the clerk, an early twenties French woman, that I was surprised by how many people I had seen on the streets wearing a Bluetooth ear piece for their mobiles. I had been caught off-guard several times when I thought people were talking to me, only to quickly learn that they were on the phone talking to somebody else.

The clerk asked if I had seen the “famous American comedy sketch about Bluetooth or schizophrenia.” No, had not seen it — or much of anything else on American TV in the past 20 years. From the way she described the comedy skit, I gather it was a bit on Saturday Night Live.

Her English was nearly fluent with an American accent. I asked where she had learned English and if she had ever been to the United States. No, but she watches “Friends” every night in English with French sub-titles. Her favorite TV program, she said.

By chance, later that day I had an encounter with an actual schizophrenic, not just somebody with a Bluetooth ear piece. An old woman with hair like a witch’s fright wig approached me and for some reason was agitated that I was trying to read a map on my iPod. In incomprehensible mush-mouth French, she was saying something about it was not necessary to look at my phone when the name of the street was posted on the side of the building. Maybe she wasn’t so crazy after all.

UPDATE: Well, it was probably not this rant on my high-traffic blog, but Google has now fixed things. On the Google Mexico site, there is now an option to switch to English and also a link for the Google USA site (google.com). But, I still question why country is detected and not the default language of any browser.

I don’t know whether to cuss Apple or Google. Yesterday, I finally upgraded my MacBook Air to the newest operating system — after many reminders by Apple telling me to do so.

It could be just a coincidence, but now the Google search page defaults to Spanish because I’m in Mexico. The option to choose a language is now gone in both the Safari and FireFox broswers. But, it’s there for Google Chrome — yes indeed, Chrome lets you choose English.

My son’s book

"With this book, Justin Smith turns the world of Leibniz scholarship upside down. Others have argued for the centrality of Leibniz's views on language and logic, or on physics and mathematics, or on theology, but Smith shows us how to read this key figure in the history of modern thought through his biology. This learned, original, and exciting book is obligatory reading for anyone interested in the origins of modern philosophy." -- Daniel Garber, Princeton University

Buy my book

Waltzing at the Doomsday Ball: The Best of Joe Bageant, available through Amazon-US. For this book, I wrote an introduction and brief biography, and selected 25 of Joe's essays published online from 2004 through 2010. Proceeds from sales of this book will go to Joe's favorite charities.

Quotes

"Leaving America is like losing twenty pounds and finding a new girlfriend."
-- Phil Ochs

"I met a lot of people in Europe. I even encountered myself."
-- James Baldwin

"Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen."
-- Benjamin Disraeli